Captain's knock to end the home jinx

David Hussey’s ability to play in pressure situation and finish off close games, especially in the Twenty20 version, was never in question but coming in with almost eleven an over required and not many to follow, he had to produce one of his best knocks to take his team past the winning line in the must win game. Add to that the poor record of KXIP at their home ground this season. But the feisty Aussie absorbed all the pressure and produced one of the most brilliant efforts of the tournament to keep his team in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs.

His unbeaten innings of 65, which came off just 35 deliveries, had four boundaries and five hits over the ropes. With shorter boundaries and flatter pitches, these statistics might seem par for the course in IPL but what it fails to reveal is the serious thought process that was employed by Hussey during the innings. Even with the circumstances turning dire, he didn’t resort to mindless slogs and ugly heaves over the cow corner but intelligently picked the correct overs and bowlers to go after. While one cannot overlook the useful contributions of the young Gurkeerat Singh (27 not out, 12 b, 4 x 4, 1 x6) and veteran all rounder Azhar Mahmood (31, 20 b, 2 x 4, 1 x 6), it was the assured presence of the skipper at the other end that allowed the duo the freedom to play their strokes.

Initially in his innings, with Azhar Mahmood at the other end, Hussey looked to just rotate the strike and made sure that the scoreboard kept ticking. Kumar Sangakarra brought his premium strike bowler Dale Steyn for his second over and Hussey took it upon himself to face most of his deliveries and deny him a wicket. The asking rate kept creeping up but the cool skipper knew exactly what he was doing.

When Mahmood got dismissed with still 91 runs in arrears, the task looked even taller for the Kings. With just the domestic Indian batsmen for company, it was obvious that Hussey not only had to score most of remaining runs but also had to shepherd the lower order. His calculation towards the dying stages of the match was spot on as he showed due respect to Dale Steyn and launched himself on the likes of Amit Mishra, Daniel Christian and T Sudhindra. What was also great to see was the constant encouragement he provided to the youngsters Piyush Chawla and Gurkeerat Singh for their useful cameos.

With the victory, Kings XI Punjab stay in the rat race for the third and fourth spot for the playoffs. With three tough must win games to go (two against Delhi Daredevils and one against Chennai Super Kings), KXIP will need all the brilliance from their stand in skipper to take them into the elite four.